


A Bet You Don't Want To Win

by Harvestqueen



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 08:16:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7927384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harvestqueen/pseuds/Harvestqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ricken bets that he can take Frederick in a fight, mainly to be able to stop his over the top training. But he quickly realizes he got way more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“This is awful!” Ricken groans, feeling the burning in his arms as intensely as if he had used a fire tome on them. 

“Complaining won’t make you stronger,” Frederick growls. “Five more.”

Ricken drops to the ground panting. “This is so stupid!” He manages to get out between deep labored breaths. “I’m a mage! Don’t you know what that means? No physical attacks!”

“You are going to be a weak little boy for the rest of your life if you don’t train your strength,” The knight says sharply, “Finish up. I was told to train everyone, and I am going to train everyone.”

It is true that those are his orders, as much as Ricken hates it. Frederick is the strongest knight in the army, and he didn’t get that way by slacking off. Chrom noticed how hard he trained, and asked him to train the rest of the guys… At least that’s what Frederick thought. The guys in the army were all strong enough, Chrom just wanted to give Frederick something to do so he would stop doting over him all the time. Besides, a little extra training never hurt anyone. 

Except the weakest man in the army, Ricken. It’s also true that the young mage usually never had to train physically. Why would he waste his time? He has the skills to be a good fighter, he’s highly trained with magic, and even fast and sneaky. Those aren’t the skills that Frederick wants in a soldier though.

Ricken rolls his eyes. “I am a mage,” he repeats, “You are wasting your time. And I’m not a little boy! I’m a grown man.”

“Right…” Frederick says, “Tell me, Ricken what will you do when your magic runs out? When you are too weak to cast a spell? Do you even have a physical weapon to defend yourself with? Or would you just hide behind Chrom?”

Ricken snarls at the accusation and steps forward to the much taller man. Some of the other men who were training look over, including the aforementioned Chrom. The women all stop their training to watch too.

“I do too have a physical weapon.” Ricken growls. 

“Oh yeah, what is it?”

“Daggers.”

Frederick rolls his eyes. “Finish your push ups. You need to be strong.”

“Not everything is about strength, Frederick.” Ricken mutters.

“Oh? Then please tell me more about how you plan to fight.”

“Use my speed,” he says, “Big guys like you underestimate little ones. I can use that to take you down. You think strength is all that matters so you don’t see the real threat.”

Frederick’s lips twitch almost into a smirk, but he keeps his steely composure. “Do you truly believe that you could beat me in a battle?”

Chrom steps forward, much to the rest of the army’s dismay. It had been awhile since they had a good duel, and although no one would consider Ricken versus Frederick to be a good fight, it’s one they all want to see. “Frederick that’s enough. Lay off him.”

Frederick nods obediently. “Yes sire.”

Ricken frowns and looks at Chrom. “I don’t need you to protect me.” He says almost defiantly, then pulls back the annoyance. “Sorry… But I don’t need that! I can fight him!”

Chrom raises an eyebrow, almost reluctant to let the smaller man fight. Ricken has been trying to prove himself since the moment he joined the army. First he saved Maribelle, then he trained day and night with his magic so he could become the most powerful mage in the army. But to some level, Chrom still agrees with Frederick. In a physical battle, strength is key. Ricken just doesn’t have that strength, as he has proved time and time again.

But keeping him from fighting would only annoy him more. And dueling is a good way to get rid of camp tensions.

Chrom backs off from the two as if to give them permission to fight. “Swords and daggers, two healers nearby,” Chrom says and looks to Lissa and Libra, “But try not to kill each other…”

“Let’s make this interesting,” Frederick says, confident in his own skills. “If I win, you not only finish todays training, but you wake up early to do the training every morning, and repeat it in the evening.”

“Fine,” Ricken smirks, “And if I win? Can I stop that training for good?”

“And Frederick will be your personal knight for a week,” Chrom cuts in. “Everything he would usually do for me, he will do for you.”

Frederick turns to him. “Milord?” He asks and Chrom smirks and winks. He’s known Frederick for years, rarely loses a battle. Besides, it’s win win for Chrom. Either Frederick wins and Ricken completes training, becoming a stronger soldier, or Frederick loses and he doesn’t have him constantly following him for the next three days. 

Frederick sees his wink as a vote of confidence and nods. “Deal.”

Ricken goes to get his daggers, and Frederick wields his sword. The daggers were a gift, from Robin actually. She found them in battle and noticed he didn’t have a weapon. That was when they had both first joined. If Frederick knew that, he might have been less willing to accept the fight. Ricken swore to himself that he would honor Robin’s gift by learning how to use the daggers, even taking up some training from Gaius. All it took was bribing him with a few lollipops and he could do it. 

That’s why, when the fight is about to start, Gaius leans against the wall near Ricken’s side, standing with Robin. Everyone else is over by Frederick, as if they are all picking sides on who will win.

The fight starts. Frederick raises his sword and goes to attack, but Ricken swiftly moves to the side, gripping both daggers in his hands tightly. Frederick tries for another attack, but again Ricken dodges. It isn’t as if Frederick isn’t smart, he has battled many before. But most people battle like him, most people who he fights are also knights. 

He goes for another strike, growling in frustration as if Ricken is two moves ahead. It’s one of the few times the mage is actually thankful for his size. It makes him a much smaller target. Not being encumbered by the heavy armor that Frederick wears also helps. 

“Are you actually going to hit me anytime soon?” Ricken mocks, almost regretting it as the sword just barely grazes his arm though, enough to cut through his shirt. 

Gregor laughs on the sidelines. “Attack him little boy! You do not win unless you be attacking the knight!”

“Not a little boy Gregor!” Ricken yells back, still focusing on Frederick. It’s a matter of honor now, to prove to everyone he doesn’t need the training. He’s not just some little kid.

“Just finish this!” Chrom yells.

“You got this Ricken!” Robin calls to him.

After a frustrating amount of time with Ricken dodging almost all of Frederick’s attacks, only a few scrapes to even show he was in a battle, he makes his move. When Frederick swings his sword he follows the movement, getting behind the large knight and pushing him to his knees, using the force of his own swing to help bring him down. His dagger presses against Frederick’s neck and he smirks.

“If we were on the battlefield, you’d be dead right now.”

The entire area is silent until Gregor erupts with roaring laughter. Ricken drops his dagger and looks at him, stepping back to help him to his feet. Something Frederick is quick to reject. Everyone else is still silent but it’s clear they’re all shocked. Gaius has a smirk on his face, and Chrom is trying to hide the small bits of laughter that come out. 

“The little one beat him!” Gregor laughs hard and Ricken laughs as well, not even caring that Gregor called him the little one. 

“Now, it looks like I’m done training. Looks like I’m going to see you bright and early tomorrow morning Frederick.” Ricken smirks again. “Oh, and you don’t have to call me lord. But it might be nice.”

Frederick nods to him politely. He may be rude to most of the army, but he is a man of his word. He is to treat him as he would treat lord Chrom, as hard as it may be.

Ricken leaves the training area and Chrom smirks to himself, knowing that he is completely unaware of the mess he just “won”.


	2. Chapter 2

“Lord Ricken.”

Ricken jolts up from his sleep at the sound of the other man’s voice. He’s used to waking up later, although it is still Frederick who wakes him for training most days. Usually it’s in a much harsher way such as bashing his sword against his armor.

Frederick is taking his duty seriously though. It was ordered by Chrom that he do it. Chrom has his own weird fascination with the matter, wanting to see if Frederick is that way because he is just a loyal knight and believes knights should serve their lords so extremely, or if it is just something about him that makes Frederick slightly insane.

“Hello Frederick,” Ricken says and stretches, blinking a few times when he sees the other man in his tent, his clothes for the day folded neatly in front of him. “Are these my clothes…?”

“Yes, I put in the effort to find exactly what you should wear today,” Frederick says, “I took weather, temperature, and today’s schedule into consideration. I think you’ll find what I chose satisfying.”

“How long have you been in my tent going through my stuff?” Ricken asks. He’d be angry if he wasn’t still surprised. 

“Two hours,” Frederick says frankly and gestures to the side of his tent. “Everything is properly sorted, folded, all for your convenience.”

Ricken pauses again. Everything is much neater than he had it, but how did the man with the grace of a bull manage to get into his tent, sort and fold everything without waking him up? 

“Okay, you’re messing with me,” he says, “There’s no way you do this for Chrom. Come on, I won. No way is this what you do.”

“Of course this is what I would do for Lord Chrom. I am a man of my honor, I said I would do for you what I do for him,” he admits. “I will leave you to dress.”

The smaller man is almost surprised that Frederick didn’t offer to help him with that too, but overall happy that he didn’t. He changes into the mage robes, finding them quite comfortable, and then goes out to be greeted by Frederick.

“Would you like me to carry your spell books to breakfast, sir?” Frederick asks politely. He never forces himself to smile. He wishes he was with Chrom, taking care of him. But Chrom made it very clear that morning that he could not only take care of himself, but Frederick was under orders to take care of Ricken.

Chrom watched in delight as Ricken and Frederick went to get breakfast with the rest of the army. The knight holds the mages books in his arms, following close on his heels like an obedient dog would follow their master. Everyone in camp was watching though, as they had watched the fight yesterday.

As they sit down to breakfast Ricken thinks about what he has won. The morning thing must be a strange routine that Chrom and he had done for the past little while, he figures. Chrom is probably too busy to sort out his own armor and clothes so he has Frederick do it for convenience. But Chrom isn’t helpless, Frederick wouldn’t be that way all day. 

But when they sit down to eat, Ricken is dismayed to see Frederick take his plate from in front of him, and start to cut his food.

“H-hey what are you doing?” Ricken asks, glancing around to make sure no one sees.

“Doing as I would do for Lord Chrom,” He says plainly. “Would you like large bites or smaller ones?”

“I can cut my own food Frederick!” He groans. “I’m not a child!”

“You said to do as I would for the Prince.”

“And Chrom makes you cut his food?”

“Chrom doesn’t make me do anything,” he admits, “I do as I should as a knight. Do whatever I can to make my lords day easier so he can more effectively serve the army.”

“Well you don’t need to cut my food for me,” he says and takes his plate back. “While we’re at it you don’t need to choose my clothes, or sort my tent.”

“Alright,” Frederick nods. As Ricken begins to eat he notices Frederick does not, and pauses.

“Aren’t you going to eat Frederick?”

“Not until you are done,” he says, “I’m making sure you don’t choke.”

Throughout the day Ricken realized that he hadn’t really won anything at all. None of the little conveniences, such as having Frederick carry his spell books, and not having to do his insane training regimen, weren’t worth the inconveniences. Frederick was constantly following him around, all day, doing every little thing to make his day easier. For Ricken though, it made it so much worse. 

Everything Frederick does, he would do for Chrom if he would let him. But after years Chrom finally snapped and told him to stop with the madness. However, Chrom made it very clear what his orders were this time; do for Ricken what you would offer to do for me. It was enough to make Chrom laugh whenever he saw the frustrated mage and the knight following close behind. He was starting to see what Lissa was always laughing at when Frederick would follow him around.

At the end of the day Ricken goes to his tent, exhausted. He stops just in front of it and turns to Frederick. “Don’t you dare think of coming in the tent with me.”

He goes into the tent and Frederick nods. “As you wish, milord.” He says, and does the next best thing, what he would do if Chrom would allow him.

Sit outside his tent, for the entire night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another one of my boredom fics, if you couldn't tell, but regardless I hope you enjoy it.


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